How An Old Pro Would Handle It
by Mattk
Summary: An interlude in Bleeding Out.  After her fight with Ron in Complications, Kim talks to the one person who might understand.


"Renton residence."

"Hey, Felix."

"Kim! How you doing?"

"Not so good."

"Oh? What's wrong?"

"It's Ron! He's being so the jerk!"

"Uh-oh. What did he do?"

"He's been going on missions without me. But that's not the bad part. He's been _lying _to me about going on missions without me! And not just me! He told Wade that we agreed that I wasn't ready to go on missions yet, although I agreed on no such thing, because maybe I'm not 100 percent yet, but I never will be if I don't practice, and I can still help – "

"Kim! Easy. Breathe. I'm the one who used my _wheelchair_ to help you with two missions, remember? You don't have to prove to _me_ that you have a right to go."

(Deep Breath). "Right. Sorry. Anyway, I finally caught him this morning, and not only is he _not_ sorry, he tries to convince me that _I'm _the one who's wrong and when I tell him to give me back _my_ Kimmunicator so he can't keep me out of the loop anymore, he won't give!"

"Kim, more breaths."

"Right. More breaths."

"I'm guessing that I'm not the first person you talked to about this."

"No. I talked to Wade, my mom, my dad, Monique…"

"And all of them admitted that what Ron did was wrong, but they actually kinda sympathized with him."

"I'm not going to ask how you knew that."

"And here I was all set to tell you the story about how the rest of my family reacted to my mom tricking out my wheelchair."

"Ooh, I should have asked. Maybe later? Please and thank you?"

(Chuckle) "All right."

(Sigh) "So. Back on topic. What do _you_ think?"

"I think you're absolutely right. He's being a jerk, and given how long he's been my buddy, he should know better. In fact, when it was me, he _did_ know better, so apparently he thinks that being your boyfriend gives him some sort of right to keep you safely locked up, which means he's being a jerk about being a jerk. He is a jerk squared."

(Silence)

"Didn't expect that answer, did you?"

"No."

"Feel good to hear it?"

"So much."

"That's because someone finally said 'Yeah, you're right, he's being a jerk' instead of 'Yes, well, but'."

"I should've called you first."

"That's okay. I don't necessarily like being remembered as the local expert in being disabled."

"Oh, no! Did I just do it again?"

"No, you didn't – that's my whole point. You talked to Wade, and your parents, and Monique first, because you're closer to them, and you weren't thinking about the fact that I am, in fact, the expert, and that people have been trying to convince me that I'm helpless since I was four."

(Pause)

"That _is_ what he's doing, isn't it?"

"He isn't meaning to – he thinks of it as trying to protect you – but yeah. And your parents, and Wade, and Monique, all know it, which is why they know it's wrong."

"I'm still tweaked at them for the 'but, well' part of the 'yes, but, well'."

"And you have every right to be. And I'm sure your Mom and Monique will understand that and apologize for it, just like I'm sure that Wade and your Dad will never realize it if you don't tell them. You might consider not bothering – your Dad has always been like that, and Wade is just a kid, and understanding where Ron is coming from isn't the same as doing what he did."

"Speaking of which – what do you think I should do about what he did?"

"Well, you need to make sure he understands one thing – and I'm giving away the punchline to that story I promised you, here, because this is what my mom said that finally shut them up: he doesn't get to lock you away in a display case just because he's afraid you'll break."

"I have a plan for doing that. Tell me what you think?"

"Sure. Spill."

"I'm having Wade make a Ronnunicator. Which is just, you know, another Kimmunicator with a couple of Ron touches."

"I get it. If he doesn't give back the Kimmunicator, then you just keep the Ronnunicator, and either way, you're not out of the loop anymore. Forcing him to accept the fact that you're back in the game now whether he likes it or not, while proving to him that you're not helpless by proving to him that he can't stop you. Very elegant."

"Thank you."

"Think it'll be too subtle?"

"Oh, the Ronnunicator is just a visual aid in a full-fledged lecture."

"An appropriate one, though. I can't believe he wouldn't give back the Kimmunicator. That was a truly dick move."

"Yeah, everybody pretty much agreed on that. Well, thanks for the advice…"

"Hey, you pretty much already knew what to do. You just needed someone to back your play."

"Thanks for that, then. And thanks for letting me vent. No one else really did."

"Glad I could help."

"Felix…one more thing…"

"Yeah?"

"If I never said it out loud…I'm sorry for how I treated you when we first met."

"Hey, you did better than say it out loud. You learned, and you changed. Now go out there and remind my idiot buddy and your idiot boyfriend that you're still Kim Possible."


End file.
